Chapter XXXI: Part II: Regulations as to Gratuities and Pensions for the Royal Irish (1)

CONSTABULARY AND DUBLIN METROPOLITAN POLICE.

SEVENTH SCHEDULE: REGULATIONS AS TO HOUSES OF THE LEGISLATURE AND THE MEMBERS THEREOF.

_Legislative Council._

(1) There shall be a separate register of electors of councillors of the Legislative Council which shall be made, until otherwise provided by Irish Act, in like manner as the Parliamentary register of electors.

(2) Where, for the election of Councillors, any counties are combined so as to form one constituency, then until otherwise provided by Irish Act,

(_a_) The returning officer for the whole constituency shall be that
one of the returning officers for Parliamentary elections for those
counties to whom the writ is addressed, and the writ shall be
addressed to the returning officer for the constituency with the
largest population, according to the census of 1891.

(_b_) The returning officer shall have the same authority throughout
the whole constituency as a returning officer to a Parliamentary
election for a county has in the county.

(_c_) The registers of electors of each county shall jointly be the
register of electors for the constituency.

(_d_) For the purposes of this Schedule 'county' includes a county of
a city or town, and this Schedule, and the law relating to the
qualification of electors, shall apply, as if the county of a city or
town formed part of the county at large with which it is combined, and
the qualification in the county of a city or town shall be the same as
in such county at large.

(3) Writs shall be issued for the election of councillors at such time not less than one or more than three months before the day for the periodical retirement of councillors as the Lord-Lieutenant in Council may fix.

(4) The day for the periodical retirement of councillors shall, until otherwise provided by Irish Act, be the last day of August in every fourth year.

(5) For the purposes of such retirement, the constituencies shall be divided into two equal divisions, and the constituencies in each province shall be divided as nearly as may be equally between those divisions, and constituencies returning two or more members shall be treated as two or more constituencies, and placed in both divisions.

(6) Subject as aforesaid, the particular constituencies which are to be in each division shall be determined by lot.

(7) The said division and lot shall be made and conducted before the appointed day in manner directed by the Lord-Lieutenant in Council.

(8) The first councillors elected for the constituencies in the first division shall retire on the first day of retirement which occurs after the first meeting of the Irish Legislature, and the first councillors for the constituencies in the second division shall retire on the second day of retirement after that meeting.

(9) Any casual vacancy among the councillors shall be filled by a new election, but the councillor filling the vacancy shall retire at the time at which the vacating councillor would have retired.

_Legislative Assembly._

(10) The Parliamentary register of electors for the time being shall, until otherwise provided by Irish Act, be the register of electors of the Legislative Assembly.

_Both Houses._

(11) Until otherwise provided by Irish Act, the Lord-Lieutenant in Council may make regulations for adapting the existing election laws to the election of members of the two Houses of the Legislature.

(12) Annual sessions of the Legislature shall be held.

(13) Any peer, whether of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England, Scotland, or Ireland, shall be qualified to be a member of either House.

(14) A member of either House may by writing under his hand resign his seat, and the same shall thereupon be vacant.

(15) The same person shall not be a member of both Houses.

(16) Until otherwise provided by Irish Act, if the same person is elected to a seat in each House, he shall, before the eighth day after the next sitting of either House, by written notice, elect in which House he will serve, and upon such election his seat in the other House shall be vacant, and if he does not so elect, his seat in both Houses shall be vacant.

(17) Until otherwise provided by Irish Act, any such notice electing in which House a person will sit, or any notice of resignation, shall be given in manner directed by the Standing Orders of the Houses, and if there is no such direction, shall be given to the Lord-Lieutenant.

(18) The powers of either House shall not be affected by any vacancy therein, or any defect in the election or qualification of any member thereof.

(19) Until otherwise provided by Irish Act, the holders of such Irish offices as may be named by Order of the Queen in Council before the appointed day, shall be entitled to be elected to and sit in either House, notwithstanding that they hold offices under the Crown, but on acceptance of any such office the seat of any such person in either House shall be vacated unless he has accepted the office in succession to some other of the said offices.

_Transitory._

(20) The Lord-Lieutenant in Council may, before the appointed day, make regulations for the following purposes:--

(_a_) The making of a register of electors of councillors in time for
the election of the first councillors, and with that object for the
variation of the days relating to registration in the existing
election laws, and for prescribing the duties of officers, and for
making such adaptations of those laws as appear necessary or proper
for duly making a register;

(_b_) The summoning of the two Houses of the Legislature of Ireland,
the issue of writs and any other things appearing to be necessary or
proper for the election of members of the two Houses;

(_c_) The election of a chairman (whether called Speaker, President,
or by any other name) of each House, the quorum of each House, the
communications between the two Houses, and such adaptation to the
proceedings of the two Houses of the procedure of Parliament, as
appears expedient for facilitating the conduct of business by those
Houses on their first meeting;

(_d_) The adaptation to the two Houses and the members thereof of any
laws and customs relating to the House of Commons or the members
thereof;

(_e_) The deliberation and voting together of the two Houses in cases
provided by this Act.

(21) The regulations maybe altered by Irish Act, and also in so far as they concern the procedure of either House alone, by Standing Orders of that House, but shall, until altered, have effect as if enacted in this Act.

NOTE I

FROM THE 'MEMOIRS OF THE LATE LORD SELBORNE'

(Part ii. pp. 261-263).

... Each new step Gladstone takes is, as it seems to me, more and more on the side of _moral_ as well as political evil. Much as I disapproved of his surrender of last year to Parnell, I disapprove very much more of his present endeavour to prevent the restoration in the present stage of the Home Rule question, of the reign of law in Ireland, and of the _means_ he is attempting to use for _that_ purpose. Deliberate and organised obstruction in the House of Commons, and an attempt to overrule a majority against him there, of more than one hundred, by violent appeals to popular passions outside,--those appeals being supported by representing the cause of anarchy and conspiring against law as the cause of liberty,--by denying the existence of any case for strengthening the law, in the face of a complete and manifest paralysis of law by the power of a seditious organisation, into whose scale he has now thrown his whole influence,--and by denouncing, in the most violent terms, the principle of measures for the protection of the loyal, and for securing the due administration of justice, which are the same (in their general character, for it is not necessary here to go into questions of detail) with those by means of which he himself governed Ireland for the last years of his power, and far more consistent with all real ideas of liberty than the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, which he introduced in 1881. It was quite open to him (of course) to contend that, by the acceptance of his Home Rule scheme, the necessity for any such measures might be prevented, and that he prefers and insists upon that alternative,--so much as _that_ was involved in his measures of last year; but it is quite a different thing to denounce the principle of maintaining law and government, and defending those who respect and obey law from the tyranny of conspirators against it, and making the ordinary criminal law of the country a reality and not a mere idle name,--'as coercion,' in the sense of an undue invasion of liberty. To do this, and to appeal _ad populum_ against it from an overwhelming majority in Parliament is _Acheronta movere_, with a vengeance.... For a man who, with his attainments, his experience, his professions, his fifty years' public service, his political education under some of the greatest and best men of the time, has three times filled the highest office in the State, and is now on the verge of the grave, so to end his career, seems to me more shocking and disheartening than anything else recorded in our history. It is only the old respect, and old attachment, which makes one search about for the possible explanations, in the workings of a very complex and intricate mind. If (as I trust) the Government and the House of Commons stand firm, all his efforts in the cause of anarchy will be in vain. The clause as to removing trials to England may have to be given up; but the _permanence_ of the Bill (its best feature of all) must remain, if any good is to be done.

... I will spare you a long yarn about politics this time. The G.O.M. seems to be determined to pull the whole Irish house down, parliamentary government and all, unless he can have his own way. But I have no fear that he _will_ have his way, just at present, whatever harm he may do in the endeavour. But the struggle is very disagreeable, as well as sharp.

NOTE II

REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMISSION (Vol. iv. pp. 544, 545).

_Conclusions of the Report of the Judges._

We have now pursued our inquiry over a sufficiently extended period to enable us to report upon the several charges and allegations which have been made against the respondents, and we have indicated in the course of this statement our findings upon these charges and allegations, but it will be convenient to repeat _seriatim_ the conclusions we have arrived at upon the issues which have been raised for our consideration.

I. We find that the respondent members of Parliament collectively were not members of a conspiracy having for its object to establish the absolute independence of Ireland, but we find that some of them, together with Mr. Davitt, established and joined in the Land League organisation with the intention by its means to bring about the absolute independence of Ireland as a separate nation. The names of these respondents are set out on a previous page.

II. We find that the respondents did enter into a conspiracy by a system of coercion and intimidation to promote an agrarian agitation against the payment of agricultural rents, for the purpose of impoverishing and expelling from the country the Irish landlords who were styled the 'English Garrison.'

III. We find that the charge that 'when on certain occasions they thought it politic to denounce, and did denounce, certain crimes in public they afterwards led their supporters to believe such denunciations were not sincere' is not established. We entirely acquit Mr. Parnell and the other respondents of the charge of insincerity in their denunciation of the Phoenix Park murders, and find that the 'facsimile' letters on which this charge was chiefly based as against Mr. Parnell is a forgery.

IV. We find that the respondents did disseminate the _Irish World_ and other newspapers tending to incite to sedition and the commission of other crime.

V. We find that the respondents did not directly incite persons to the commission of crime other than intimidation, but that they did incite to intimidation, and that the consequence of that incitement was that crime and outrage were committed by the persons incited. We find that it has not been proved that the respondents made payments for the purpose of inciting persons to commit crime.

VI. We find as to the allegation that the respondents did nothing to prevent crime and expressed no _bona fide_ disapproval, that some of the respondents, and in particular Mr. Davitt, did express _bona fide_ disapproval of crime and outrage, but that the respondents did not denounce the system of intimidation which led to crime and outrage, but persisted in it with knowledge of its effect.

VII. We find that the respondents did defend persons charged with agrarian crime, and supported their families, but that it has not been proved that they subscribed to testimonials for, or were intimately associated with, notorious criminals, or that they made payments to procure the escape of criminals from justice.

VIII. We find, as to the allegation that the respondents made payments to compensate persons who had been injured in the commission of crime, that they did make such payments.

IX. As to the allegation that the respondents invited the assistance and co-operation of and accepted subscriptions of money from known advocates of crime and the use of dynamite, we find that the respondents did invite the assistance and co-operation of and accepted subscriptions of money from Patrick Ford, a known advocate of crime and the use of dynamite, but that it has not been proved that the respondents, or any of them, knew that the Clan-na-Gael controlled the League or was collecting money for the Parliamentary Fund. It has been proved that the respondents invited and obtained the assistance and co-operation of the Physical Force Party in America, including the Clan-na-Gael, and in order to obtain that assistance, abstained from repudiating or condemning the action of that party.

Index

A

Administration of the affairs of Ireland: its nature and defects, 28, 29.

Agrarian crime in Ireland, 12, 29, 128, 135, 146. _See_ Whiteboyism

Agriculture, state of, in Ireland, 3, 7, 204, 205, 206, 234

B

Balfour, Mr. Arthur: his successful policy when Chief Secretary for
Ireland, 58;
he establishes light railways in Ireland, and the Congested Districts
Board, 35, 36

Belfast, improvement in, within the last sixty years, 2

Bewley, Mr. Justice, the head of the Second Land Commission: his theory
of occupation right in the Irish land, 219, 220

Bureaucracy, the, of the Castle, 28, 29

Butt, Isaac: the true author of the conception of Home Rule, 41;
his work on Irish Federalism, 42

C

Chicago, the Convention at, in 1886: speeches of two of Parnell's
envoys, 57

Code, the Irish Penal: its effects on the Irish land, 99, 100. _See_ the
Question of the Irish Land, Chap. III., in several places

Commissions appointed for considering and administering Irish affairs:
(1) the Devon Commission and its Report--the mistake it made as to
Irish land tenure, 116;
(2) the Childers Commission and its Report on Irish finance, 288-291
(_see_ chapter on the Present Question of Irish Finance, _passim_);
(3) the Land Commission appointed to carry out the Land Act of 1881
and its supplements, 166, 190, 191. _See_ Chaps. IV., V., VI., on
the Question of the Irish Land, in many places

Confiscations of the Irish Land, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96. _See_ Chap.
III., on the Question of the Irish Land, in several places

Cork has not prospered within the last sixty years, 2

Cromwell, Irish policy of, especially as to the land, 93, 94

D

Davitt, Michael, inaugurates the Irish Land League, 44

Derby, the Administration of Lord, brings in Irish Land Bills in 1852,
which do not become law, 123

Dublin, improvements in, within sixty years, 2

E

Emancipation, Catholic: its effects on Irish landed relations, 113, 114

Encumbered Estates Act: an iniquitous measure of confiscation, and its
results, 121, 122

Exodus, the, of the Irish race after the Famine, 120. _See_ Chap. III.,
the Question of the Irish Land, in several places

F

Famine, the Great Irish, of 1845-47, 117, 118, 119;
and _see_ Chap. III., on the Irish land, in several places

Fenian outbreaks in Ireland, 128, 129;
the consequences, 129;
the influence of Fenianism in Ireland after 1870, 147

Finance, the question of Irish: the financial relations between Great
Britain and Ireland a subject of long controversy, 271;
what they were before 1782, 273,
and under Grattan's Parliament, 274;
increase of the debt and the taxation of Ireland by the close of the
eighteenth century, 274, 275;
the financial arrangements made at the Union, the work of Pitt, 275,
276;
his object was to 'assimilate Great Britain and Ireland in finance,'
but this was impossible, and why, ibid.;
the financial settlement effected at the Union--Ireland to pay a
contribution, but not to be taxed beyond her means, ibid.;
the seventh article of the Treaty of Union and its constitutional
meaning, 277, 278;
the settlement denounced in the Irish Parliament, especially by Foster
and Grattan, 279;
protest of the twenty peers, 279, 280;
the Union left Ireland financially a distinct country, 280;
the settlement made at the Union reduced her to bankruptcy, and how,
281, 282;
the compromise of 1816, 282, 283;
the real objects of this measure, 283, 284;
though theoretically to 'be assimilated' in finance, Ireland remained
for many years financially a completely distinct country, and the
reasons, 284;
this fully recognised by Peel in 1842, 285;
he refused to extend the income tax to Ireland, and permanently to
increase her spirit duties, ibid.;
Mr. Gladstone in 1853 suddenly disregards this policy, and imposes the
income tax on Ireland, and raises her spirit duties, 286;
gross injustice of this increase of taxation, especially under the
circumstances of Ireland, 286, 289;
Ireland to a considerable extent 'assimilated in finance' to Great
Britain, but not completely, even to the present day, a fact that
should be kept in mind, 287;
the Committee of 1863-64 on Irish finance, ibid.;
it fails to get Ireland justice, 288;
Mr. Goschen appoints a Committee to investigate the subject, ibid.;
this followed by the Childers Commission, appointed by Mr. Gladstone
in 1893, ibid.;
scope of the inquiry, 288, 289;
the work of the Childers Commission, 289;
it reports that Ireland has been overtaxed at the rate of between two
and three millions a year, and that for a very considerable space
of time, 290;
view of Sir R. Giffen that even this estimate falls short of the real
truth, 291, 292;
this overtaxation especially severe in the case of Ireland, a poor
country, 292-295;
the attempts that have been made to answer and refute the Report of
the Childers Commission have been grotesque failures, 295;
examination of these arguments and reply to them--they are either
fallacious, or mischievous and dangerous, 295-305;
question of a counterclaim against Ireland in finance, 306;
financial redress which Ireland has a right to demand, 307;
the question should be settled, 308

Foster, Mr., Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, opposes the
financial arrangements of the Union, 272

G

Galway in decay, 6

Gladstone, Mr.: he ridicules Butt's scheme of Home Rule, 44;
fall of his Administration in 1885, 46;
his attitude at the General Election of that year, ibid.;
he becomes a convert to Home Rule and the probable reasons, 47, 48;
the best members of the Liberal Party break away from him, 48;
he introduces his first Home Rule Bill, ibid.;
he dissolves Parliament after the rejection of that measure by the
House of Commons, 56;
he allies himself with the party of disorder in Ireland, 58, 59;
he negotiates with Parnell about Home Rule, 59;
he returns to office in 1892 with a small majority, 61;
he introduces his second Home Rule Bill in 1893, 62;
his Irish policy in 1868, 131;
he disestablishes and disendows the Protestant church in Ireland,
ibid.;
he makes no provision for the Irish Catholic clergy, a capital
mistake, 132;
he introduces the Land Act of 1870 for Ireland, 139, 140;
he declares against the Three F's, and announces that this measure is
to be final, ibid.;
he becomes Minister for the second time in 1880, 154;
he introduces the Compensation for Disturbance Bill, 155;
he surrenders to the Land League and introduces the Land Act of 1881,
169;
he makes the Kilmainham treaty with Parnell, 170;
the fiscal wrong he does to Ireland in 1853-60, 286;
he appoints the Childers Commission in 1893 to investigate the subject
of Irish finance, 288;
his scheme of Irish University Reform, 343, 344.
And _see_ Chap. VIII., on Other Irish Questions

Goschen, Mr., refers the question of the financial relations of Great
Britain and Ireland to a Committee, 288

Grattan: he denounces the financial settlement made at the Union for
Ireland, 279

H

Henry VII.: his Irish policy, 89

Henry VIII.: his wise policy for Ireland unhappily prevented, 89, 90

Home Rule, the question of: Home Rule not dead, 39;
the present attitude of the Liberal and the 'Nationalist' parties
towards Home Rule, 40;
it is a 'Present Irish Question,' 41;
Isaac Butt inaugurated this policy, ibid.;
his plan of Home Rule, 42;
the Irish Home Rule party, 43;
Butt's proposals powerfully attacked in Parliament, notably by Mr.
Gladstone, ibid.;
Butt is gradually supplanted by Parnell, 44;
Michael Davitt and the 'New Departure,' ibid.;
Parnell the head of the Land League, 44, 45;
Mr. Gladstone succumbs to it, 45;
Home Rule condemned by statesmen of all parties in 1880-84, ibid.;
Mr. Gladstone accepts Home Rule, 47;
the first Home Rule Bill of 1886, 48;
its characteristics and the objections to it, 48-50;
what its results would have been, 51-54;
the Bill is rejected in the House of Commons, 55;
attitude of the Fenians in America, 55, 56;
causes that promoted the Home Rule policy in Great Britain, 59, 60;
results of the General Election of 1892, 61;
the Home Rule Bill of 1893, 62;
its characteristics and vices, 62-64;
it is a much more objectionable measure than that of 1886, and why,
65;
strong opposition to it in the country, 68;
the in-and-out plan given up, 69;
the Bill passes the House of Commons by a small majority through the
expedient of 'closure by compartments' 69;
it is rejected in the House of Lords by an overwhelming majority, 70;
Home Rule is scattered to the winds at the General Election of 1895,
ibid.;
it is not a prominent question at that of 1900, ibid.;
the subject cannot be dismissed, 71;
different forms of Home Rule, 71-73;
separation a better policy than Home Rule, 73;
'Home Rule all round,' 73, 74;
conclusive objections to this scheme, 74-77;
the Union must be maintained, and Home Rule rejected by the nation, 78;
the rule of the Imperial Parliament has had some bad effects in Irish
affairs, and why, 79, 80;
proposal that the Imperial Parliament should occasionally sit in
Dublin, and the advantages of this, 81;
royalty should sometimes visit Ireland, 82;
necessity, in order to guard against Home Rule, and for other reasons,
to reduce the over-representation of Ireland in the House of
Commons, 82, 83

I

Ireland in 1901: a revolution has passed over Ireland, 2;
she has made some material progress, 2;
Dublin and Belfast, ibid.;
improvement in the habitations of the community and in Catholic places
of worship, 2, 3;
material progress of the community, 3-5;
the dark side of the picture, 5;
decline of several towns in Ireland, of manufactures, of fishing
industry, and of agriculture, 6, 7;
Ireland a poor country, 7;
excessive emigration, 8;
great increase of local and general taxation, 8;
the progress of Ireland as nothing compared to that of England and
Scotland, 9;
the Irish land system at the beginning of the reign of Victoria, 11;
sketch of it from that to the present time, 11-17 (and _see_ the
Question of the Irish Land, Chap. III., in many places);
Ireland and her three peoples, 18;
Catholic Ireland remains for the most part disaffected, despite the
great reforms effected in its interest, 19-21;
the Catholic democracy of Ireland, 21;
failure of the policy of conciliation, 22;
Presbyterian Ireland--its sentiments and demands, ibid.;
Protestant Ireland--its position in the community, 22, 23;
discontent of the landed gentry, 23;
character of the Irish legislation of the Imperial Parliament, 23-25,
and of its administration of Irish affairs, 28, 29;
the Anglican Church of Ireland, 30;
the Presbyterian Church, ibid.;
the Catholic Church, 31;
the administration of justice in Ireland, 31, 32;
Irish literature and education, 32, 33;
_resume_ of the general condition of Ireland, 33-35;
the Irish policy of Lord Salisbury's Government during the last six
years, 35, 36;
Ireland still 'the vulnerable part near the heart of the Empire,' 37,
38

L

Lalor, John Finton, a rebel of 1848: his teaching with respect to the
Irish land, 148

Land, the question of the Irish: importance of the subject, 184, 185;
the Celtic tribal land system in Ireland, 86, 87;
the tribes, clans, and septs, 87;
the partial feudalisation of the land system, 87;
collective ownership of which traces still exist, 87;
the Anglo-Norman Conquest of Ireland and the Colony of the Pale, 88;
the land falls into the hands of great families, ibid.;
miserable state of Ireland at the close of the fifteenth century, 89;
Henry VII. and Poynings, ibid.;
sagacious policy of Henry VIII., especially as regards the land, 90;
this, unfortunately, was not carried out, ibid.;
the era of conquest begins, and of the confiscation of the Irish land,
ibid.;
confiscation of the territories of the O'Connors of Offaly, of Shane
O'Neill, and of the Earl of Desmond, 90, 91;
rebellion of Tyrone, 91;
all Ireland made shireland, and the old Celtic land system is effaced
by law, ibid.;
English modes of land tenure imposed on the people, 91, 92;
confiscation of the territories of Tyrone and of O'Donnell, 92;
the Plantation of Ulster, ibid.;
further confiscation in times of peace, ibid.;
Strafford marks out Connaught for confiscation, 92;
beginning of Protestant ascendency in the land, 93;
vast confiscations effected by Cromwell, 93;
his scheme of a general colonisation of Ireland fails, 93-95;
results of the Cromwellian conquest in the land, 95;
policy of Charles II. as regards the land, ibid.;
confiscations after the Boyne and the fall of Limerick, 96;
state of the Irish land system when the period of violent confiscation
ends, 97, 98;
the era of Protestant ascendency and of Catholic subjection in
Ireland, 98, 99;
the Penal Code and its effects on the land, 99, 100;
mournful period in Irish history, 100-102;
gradual improvement in Irish landed relations, 102-104;
evil traces of the past: Whiteboyism, 105;
traditions of the ancient land system survive, 106;
Edmund Burke on Irish land tenures--he indicates a grave economic vice
in the land system, 107;
progress of Ireland after 1782, ibid.;
its effects on the land, 108;
evil results of the Rebellion of 1798, 109;
the Union Speech of Lord Clare on Irish landed relations, 109;
revolution in the land system in the first years of the nineteenth
century, 110;
the important social and economic results, 110, 111;
want of a poor-law, 111;
the concurrent rights of tenants in the land not protected by the law,
ibid.;
period of distress after the Peace of 1815, 112, 113;
evictions and clearances of estates, 113;
agrarian disorder, 113;
Catholic Emancipation, ibid.;
its results as regards Irish landed relations, 114;
Peel and the Irish land, 115;
the Devon Commission and its Report, 115, 116;
its recommendations as to land tenure ill conceived and condemned in
Ireland, 117;
the Famine of 1845-47, and its effects on the Irish land, 118, 119;
the exodus, 120;
the Encumbered Estates Act, and the effects of this scheme of
confiscation, 121, 122;
agrarian agitation of 1852 in Ireland fails, 123;
false ideas of British statesmen as regards the land, 129;
partial prosperity in Ireland for some years, 125;
this largely deceptive, 126;
growth of Fenianism, 128;
the Fenian outbreak, 128, 129;
change of opinion in England as regards Ireland, 129;
Mr. Gladstone Prime Minister, 130;
state of the Irish land system before the Land Act of 1870, 132-138;
the Land Act of 1870 and its provisions, 141-143;
merits and defects of this measure, 144, 145;
state of Irish landed relations after the Act, 146, 147;
origin of the Land League, 151, 152;
distress in Ireland, and the Land League, 152-154;
the Compensation for Disturbance Bill rejected by the House of Lords,
155;
frightful state of Ireland and of landed relations in 1880-81, 155-161;
the Land Act of 1881, 165;
the provisions of the measure, 165, 166;
the Act is directly opposed to that of 1870, 168;
the no-rent movement, 179;
the National League replaces the Land League, 171, 172;
state of Irish landed relations in 1886 and 1887, 175;
the Land Act of 1887, 175;
the Land Act of 1891, 178, 179;
the land purchase section in the Irish Land Act, 183;
the principle of this system false and dangerous, ibid.;
the Land Purchase Act of 1891, 184;
recent legislation on the Irish land unjust and tending to
confiscation, 186, 187.
The administration of the Irish Land Acts, 188;
of the Act of 1870, 189;
of the Act of 1881, and its supplements, 190;
the first Land Commission--allowances to be made for it, 191;
principles it should have followed and course it should have pursued
in fixing 'fair rents,' 192-197;
the Sub-Commission--nature of these tribunals, 197, 198;
how they ought to have fixed 'fair rents,' 199, 203;
criticism of Mr. Lecky, 203, 204;
examples of injustice, 204, 209;
faulty methods of fixing 'fair rents,' 209, 213;
appeals to the Land Commission rendered almost nugatory, 215, 218;
the second Land Commission: Mr. Justice Bewley and his theory of
occupation right, 219, 221;
instance of a gross mistake, 222;
the Fry Commission--its Report a masked censure on the proceedings of
the Land Commission, 222, 224;
Mr. Justice Meredith head of the present Land Commission, 224;
conduct of the Government as regards the Report of the Fry Commission,
225;
results of the labours of the Land Commission and the Sub-Commission
in fixing 'fair rents,' 225, 227;
confiscation of the property of landlords, 227;
excuses made for this false, 228, 229;
results of the system of land purchase so far, ibid.;
mischievous and dangerous consequences of all this legislation on the
Irish land;
a retrospect of it on the side of occupation, 230-237;
judgment of Mr. Lecky, 237, 238;
retrospect of it on the side of ownership, especially with regard to
the subject of 'compulsive purchase,' which the system of
'voluntary purchase' has necessarily made a grave question,
238-256;
judgment of Mr. Lecky, 256, 257;
the Irish land system in a deplorable state, 257-259;
plan of the author for the reform of this system approved by Mr.
Gladstone and by Parnell, 259-266;
the compensation of the Irish landlords must be accomplished if public
faith is to be kept and common justice done, 266-270

Land League, the: Reign of Terror caused by, 14;
its teaching and that of the National League, 20;
ascendency of the Land League in ten or eleven Irish counties, 45;
frightful state of Ireland due to it, 158-162

Law, Mr., the Irish Attorney-General of Mr. Gladstone in 1881: his
definition of 'fair rent,' 192

Limerick in decay, 6

Litton, Mr. E. F., a member of the first Land Commission, 192

Local Government, sketch of, in Ireland, 309-329. _See_ Chap. VIII.,
Other Irish Questions, in several places

M

Macaulay, Lord: speech on the state of Ireland in 1844, 36

Meredith, Mr. Justice, head of the present Land Commission: a capable
lawyer, but bound by the precedents of his forerunners, 229

N

National League, the: it replaces the Land League, 47, 48;
its leaders set on foot 'The Plan of Campaign,' 57;
it was founded by Parnell, 171;
its character, 172;
agrarian side of the National League movement, 174, 175;
decline of the power of the National League in 1889, 177;
it is at its lowest ebb in 1895, ibid.

National system of education, 332-336. _See_ Chap. VIII., on Other
Present Irish Questions

O

O'Connell: his evidence on the state of Ireland in 1825, 5;
he wrings Catholic Emancipation from a reluctant Government, 113;
leader of the Repeal movement of 1843-44, 115

O'Hagan, Mr. Justice, head of the first Land Commission, 190

'Other Present Irish Questions,' Chap. VIII.
I. Local Government in Ireland, 309;
the grand juries, their composition and functions, 311-314;
the administration of the poor law and the Boards of Guardians,
314-315;
the administration of cities and towns--its history, 315-318;
character of, in recent times, 318-320;
how the reform of 1898 was brought about, 320, 321;
sketch of the Local Government Act of 1898, 321-326;
and of its working up to the present time, 326-329.
II. Education in Ireland, history of, 330 _seqq._:
primary education, 330-332;
the National system founded by Mr. Stanley--its principles and
history, 332-336.
Secondary education, diocesan schools, 336;
Royal schools, ibid.;
Erasmus Smith schools, 337;
other schools; the system has not been successful, and why, 337, 338.
University education, Trinity College, its history and the character
of the institution, 338-341;
Peel founds the Queen's Colleges and University, 341;
character of these institutions, 392;
the Catholic University, ibid.;
Mr. Gladstone's scheme of Irish University reform, 343, 344;
grave objections to it, 345, 346;
it is rejected by the House of Commons, 346;
Trinity College "opened," ibid.;
the Royal University, 347;
injustice of the present system of University education in Ireland,
347-351;
two plans of reform suggested, the second to be preferred, 351-360

P

Palmerston, Lord: he condemns Irish tenant right, 124

Parnell: supplants Butt, 44;
leader of the Land League, 44, 45;
he denounces the Conservative party in 1885, 46;
he pretends to accept the Home Rule Bill of 1886, 55;
the special commission and Parnell, 59;
he negotiates with Mr. Gladstone on Home Rule, ibid.;
his fall, 59

Peel: his remarks on the Constitution in Ireland, 32;
he appoints the Devon Commission, 115;
his policy during the famine, 117;
he refuses in 1842 to extend the income tax to Ireland, 285;
he founds the Queen's Colleges and the Queen's University in Ireland,
341

Pitt: the author of the financial arrangements made at the Union, 275

Primary education in Ireland, 330-336. _See_ Chap. VIII., on Other
Present Irish Questions

Q

Queen's Colleges and Queen's University: founded by Peel, 341. _See_
Chap. VIII., on Other Present Irish Questions

R

Rebellion of 1798: its effects on the Irish Land, 109

S

Salisbury, Lord: character of the Irish policy of his ministry, 35, 36

Stanley, Mr., founds the system of National Education in Ireland, 332

Strafford: his Irish policy, 92

T

Trinity College, 338-341. _See_ Chap. VIII., on Present Irish Questions

U

Ulster Custom, the, 111, 123, 137, 141

Union, The, 78, 79, 109

United Irish League, the: fills the place of the Land and the National
Leagues, 26;
speeches and conduct of its leaders, 26, 27

V

Vernon, Mr. I. E., one of the members of the first Land Commission, 190

W

Whiteboyism in Ireland, 12, 105, 160, 161

Y

Young, Arthur: his tour in Ireland, 109, 110

APPENDICES

I. The Irish Government Bill, 1886, 361-387

II. The Irish Government Bill, 1893, 388-424

III. Note I. From the 'Memoirs of the late Lord Selborne,' 425, 426

IV. Report of the Special Commission, vol. iv. pp. 544, 545. Conclusion
of the Report of the Judges, 426-428

THE END

LONDON:

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] It considerably exceeds 300,000 by the figures of the census of 1901.

[2]

1841 1891
Houses of the first class 40,080 70,740
" second class 264,184 466,632
" third class 533,297 312,589
" fourth class 491,278 20,617

These figures are taken from that most valuable publication, 'Thom's Irish Directory for 1901,' p. 631. It contains the statistics of Ireland carefully compiled from official sources.

[3] There has been a small decrease since 1895.

[4] Evidence taken before a Select Committee of the House of Commons, 1824-25, vol. i. p. 49. The whole of O'Connell's evidence should be studied.

[5]

1894 1900
Funded Debt held in Ireland L22,917,530 L18,303,627

Government Funds and other securities:
India Stock, Land Stock,
War Stock, Joint Stock Banks,
Trustee Savings Banks, and Post
Office Savings Banks L67,432,000 L77,494,000

'Thom's Directory, 1901,' p. 718.

[6] See the remarkable evidence of Mr. Booth, a high authority, taken by the Childers Commission, 'Minutes of Evidence,' vol. ii. pp. 212, 213. This should all be studied.

[7] 'Thom's Directory, 1901,' p. 699.

[8] Report of Childers Commission, p. 43--

1851-55 1889-93
Crops L58,537,000 L34,643,000
Stock L39,348,000 L53,312,000

[9] 'Thom's Directory, 1901,' p. 684.

[10] 'Thom's Directory, 1901,' p. 629.

[11] See the striking observations of Mr. Childers, well worth serious attention: 'Report of the Childers Commission,' pp. 186, 187.

[12] 'Thom's Directory, 1901,' p. 662. Number of paupers relieved in 1890, 454,178; in 1898, 525,104. Charge in 1890, L856,008; in 1898, L981,333. These are the latest returns.

[13] 'Thom's Directory, 1901,' p. 674. Assessment of lands, in 1890, under Schedule A, L12,736,967; in 1899, L11,664,453. Funded property at the same periods, L803,300 and L615,630. These, too, are the latest returns.

[14] 'Report of the Childers Commission,' p. 72. I cite also the following from the Report, p. 43: 'The income-tax figures are, perhaps, the best and most complete test of the comparative growth of the wealth of the two countries. Taking the two years, 1854 and 1892, we find that the net assessment for Great Britain was, in 1854, L245,389,931; and in 1892, L570,971,740. The net assessment for Ireland was, in 1854, L21,334,448; and in 1892, L26,851,585. In these thirty-eight years the net assessment for Great Britain is more than two and a third times as great as it was in 1854, whilst that for Ireland has only increased by one quarter. Put in percentage form, the figures are still more striking: In 1854 Great Britain was assessed at 92 per cent. of the whole; Ireland 8 per cent. In 1892 Great Britain was assessed at 95.50 per cent, of the whole; Ireland 4.50 per cent. In other words, Ireland's assessment was to that of Great Britain as 1 to 11 in 1854, and as 1 to 21 in 1892.'

[15] See on this subject the true and indignant remarks of Mr. Lecky, 'Democracy and Liberty,' vol. i. pp. 27, 28.

[16] The tone of disaffected opinion in Ireland can only be thoroughly understood by a careful study of the conduct and the language of 'Nationalist' leaders. I select a few specimens out of hundreds of instances. Mr. William O'Brien, the Corypheus of the United Irish League, spake thus at Letterkenny in January, 1900: 'If ten thousand Frenchmen, or Russians, or Germans were to land in Bantry Bay, with a supply of arms for the people, they would walk over the country and drive the English garrison into the sea.' The same worthy exclaimed at a monster meeting in Dublin in September, 'English rule in Ireland was so bad that they would be justified in chasing the English out of Ireland bag and baggage. What was wanting to them, unfortunately, were the guns and artillery to do it.' Mr. Michael Davitt, of Land League renown, speaking in the Queen's County about the same time, said, 'England is unquestionably the greatest empire of liars (loud cheers and laughter), of hypocrites, and of poltroons, judged by its achievements in South Africa, that has ever postured before mankind with a civilising mission.' Because the Corporation of Dublin voted, by a small majority, an address to Queen Victoria when she paid her last visit to Ireland, Mr. John Redmond, the chairman of the 'Irish Parliamentary Party,' said, in January, 1901, 'It rests with the people themselves to say whether they will redeem the reputation of Dublin from the stain that has been cast on it.' So Mr. John Dillon, M.P., spoke in the same sense, a few months ago, 'The voice of the capital will be the voice of the rest of Ireland (applause), that we will not tolerate in this old city that new type of politics which thinks it consistent with Irish nationality to cringe and crouch before a foreign queen.' At least two County Councils in Ireland, and more than one Local Board, refused to vote an expression of condolence when the Queen died. It is painful to contrast these sentiments with the loyalty of O'Connell when the Queen ascended the throne.

[17] Since the above lines were written, there has been a serious outbreak of agrarian crime in Ireland in the form of incendiary fires, which may be distinctly traced to the operations of the United Irish League.

[18] Speech in the House of Commons, February 19, 1844.

[19] The figures were 1,238,342 against 1,316,327: Dicey, 'England's Case against Home Rule,' p. 35.

[20] Butt maintained, in his place in Parliament (Hansard, March 20, 1874), that this was the true import of his project.

[21] Speech on receiving the freedom of Aberdeen, September 26, 1871.

[22] See Mr. Gladstone's 'History of an Idea,' an apology for his attitude towards Home Rule at this time, which seems to me to be his condemnation.

[23] For an admirable analysis of the Bill, see Dicey's 'England's Case against Home Rule,' pp. 223-273. The text of the Bill will be found in the Appendix to this volume.

[24] For a full statement of Mr. Gladstone's 'conditions,' see his speech in the House of Commons, April 8, 1886.

[25] 'Reflections on the Revolution in France,' vol. i. p. 384, ed. 1834.

[26] Report of the Special Commission, vol. iv. p. 542.

[27] 'The Queen's Enemies in America,' p. 24.

[28] For a scathing condemnation of Mr. Gladstone's public conduct in these years, see several great speeches of Lord Hartington and Mr. Goschen. See also 'The Memoirs of Lord Selborne,' Part II. vol. ii. pp. 261, _et seq._, and note in Appendix to this volume. See, too, Dicey's 'Leap in the Dark,' p. 190. Lord Selborne's sketch of Mr. Gladstone's character as a statesman, 'Memoirs,' Part II. vol. ii. pp. 339-359, deserves careful study. Mr. Lecky's admirable account, 'Democracy and Liberty,' introduction to vol. i., second edition, is well known.

[29] Report of the Judges, vol. iv. pp. 544, 545. See the note at the end of this volume in the Appendix.

[30] For a very able analysis of and commentary on the Bill of 1893, see Professor Dicey's 'Leap in the Dark.' For the text of the Bill, see the Appendix to this volume.

[31] Dicey's 'Leap in the Dark,' p. 57.

[32] 'England's Case against Home Rule,' p. 168.

[33] The German Empire, in which Prussia is the leading State, may seem an example to the contrary; but the German Empire is hardly a Federation properly so called; it is a great military monarchy ruling subject kingdoms.

[34] I feel obliged to refer to these authorities; not in order to stir up resentment against England in Ireland, but to point out a most important, if unfortunate, fact in the relations between the two countries. Swift, in his 'View of the State of Ireland,' Works, vol. ii. 8vo ed. 1890, says, 'We are in the condition of patients, who have physic sent them by doctors at a distance, strangers to their constitution and the nature of the disease.' Burke, 'Correspondence,' vol. iii. p. 438, has remarked, 'I have never known any of the successive Governments of my time influenced by any other feeling relative to Ireland than the wish that they should hear of it and of its concerns as little as possible.' So Grattan, cited by Mr. Lecky, vol. vii. p. 108, exclaimed, 'It is a matter of melancholy reflection to consider how little the Cabinet knows of anything relating to Ireland. Ireland is a subject it considers with a lazy contumely, and picks up here and there, by accident or design, interested and erroneous intelligence.' I quote this passage from one of the speeches of Lord Clare: 'The people of England know less of this country than of any other nation in Europe;' and this passage from one of the speeches of O'Connell: 'We are governed by foreigners; foreigners make our laws.... As to Ireland, the Imperial Parliament has the additional disadvantage springing from want of interest and total ignorance. I do not exaggerate; the ministers are in total ignorance of this country.' This want of knowledge of Ireland, too often associated with indifference, has, I repeat, been distinctly made manifest of late years.

[35] These figures are taken from the Irish census of 1891. By the census of 1901, the population of Antrim and Down has increased, and that of every other county in Ireland, except Dublin, has declined. The over-representation of Ireland has thus become more than ever an unjust anomaly.

[36] For an admirable account of the ancient land system of Celtic Ireland, see Maine's 'Early History of Institutions.' I may be allowed to refer to an article on this work, from my pen, in the _Edinburgh Review_ of July, 1875, and to the first chapter of my 'History of Ireland,' in the Cambridge 'Historical Series.'

[37] In the case of this, as of all the chapters, a list of the principal authorities and sources of information will be found in the preface to this book. For the conquest and confiscations of the Irish land, from the Norman Conquest to the end of the reign of William III., see 'The Statute of Kilkenny,' edited by James Hardiman; 'The Discoverie of Sir John Davies;' 'The Carew Papers,' edited by J. S. Brewer and William Bullen; Spenser's 'View of the State of Ireland;' Holingshead's 'Chronicles of Ireland;' Carte's 'Life of Ormond;' Lord Clanricarde's 'Memoirs;' Sir William Petty's 'Political Anatomy of Ireland;' 'Macariae Excidium;' and King's 'State of the Protestants of Ireland.' As regards modern authorities, numerous, and some very valuable, the reader may be referred to Froude's 'History of England,' vol. ii. ch. viii.; vol. v. ch. xxviii.; vol. viii. chs. vii., xi.; vol. x. ch. xxiv.; vol. xi. ch. xxvii.; to Mr. Lecky's 'History of England in the Eighteenth Century,' vol. ii. ch. vi.; and to the Irish chapters in Mr. Gardiner's 'History of England,' from the Accession of James I. to the outbreak of the Civil War; to his 'History of the Great Civil War,' vol. i. chs. vi., xi.; vol. ii. chs. xxvii., xxxvii., xliv.; and to the Irish chapters of his 'History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate.' Other modern works on the subject are Sigerson's 'History of Land Tenure in Ireland;' 'An Historical Account of the Plantation of Ulster,' by the Rev. George Hill; 'The Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland,' by John P. Prendergast; and the 'Life of Sir William Petty,' by Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice. See a review by me of this last work in the _Edinburgh Review_ of July, 1895; and also chs. iii., iv., and v. of my 'History of Ireland, 1494-1868,' referred to before. There are innumerable minor authorities; and Hallam's 'Chapter on Ireland,' vol. iii., may be studied.

[38] 'Letter to Sir Hercules Langriche:' 'Works,' vol. i. p. 560, ed. 1834.

[39] For an account of the penal laws of Ireland, see Vincent Scully on 'The Irish Penal Laws;' Howard's 'Popery Laws;' and Burke's 'Tracts on the Popery Laws,' a short but masterly work.

[40] For the state of Ireland and of the Irish land at this period, see the Irish Statute Book from 1700 to about 1750, and especially the writings of Swift and Berkeley on Irish affairs. Swift, however, is not just to the Irish landed gentry, many as were their faults. See also the 'Letters' of Archbishop Boulter, the virtual ruler of Ireland during a series of years, and of Archbishop Synge. Reference, too, may be made to Molyneux's 'Case of Ireland,' and to Hutchinson's and Caldwell's 'Restraints on the Trade of Ireland.' For modern authorities, consult Lecky's 'History of England in the Eighteenth Century,' vol. ii. ch. vii.; vol. iv. chs. xvi., xvii. Froude's 'English in Ireland' is very inaccurate and one-sided for this period; but his fine romance, the 'Two Chiefs of Dunboy,' contains a brilliant, and, in the main, a true account of the state of Irish social life in those days.

[41] By far the best account of the state of Ireland, at this period, is to be found in the celebrated 'Tour' of Arthur Young, who wrote in 1776-78. See also Mr. Lecky's 'History of England in the Eighteenth Century,' vol. vi. chs. xxiv., xxv.; vol. vii. ch. xxvii. The 'Irlande, Sociale, Politique, et Religieuse' of Gustave de Beaumont may also be consulted; but though a very able work, it is that of a democratic doctrinaire. For the Whiteboy movements, see the Irish Statute Book, and Sir George Lewis on 'Irish Disturbances.'

[42] See Burke's 'Tracts on the Popery Laws,' vol. ii. pp. 445, 446. Arthur Young, too, often dwells on this subject.

[43] For an account of this period nothing can be compared to Mr. Lecky's 'History of England in the Eighteenth Century,' vols. vii., viii. These contain all the information that can be obtained, collected from every available source. I may refer to my 'Ireland, 1798-1898,' chs. i., ii.

[44] There is no complete history of Ireland from the Union to the present time, though the materials for such a work are abundant. I may refer to my 'Ireland, 1798-1898,' from the second chapter to the end. An excellent and elaborate description of Ireland from 1800 to 1812 will be found in the volumes of Edward Wakefield.

[45] The best account of this period--the forerunner of one even more calamitous--will be found in the proceedings of a Parliamentary Committee on the state of Ireland in 1824-25, and in the mass of evidence collected by it. The evidence of O'Connell is full of interest.

[46] I perfectly recollect, though quite a boy, this strong and widespread expression of sentiment.

[47] Mitchel's 'History of Ireland,' vol. ii. p. 213. Mitchel was a rebel, but an honourable man, superior to the falsehoods disseminated by later agitators against Irish landlords.

[48] Every one acquainted with the history of Irish titles, from about 1790 to 1820, knows that this was the case.

[49] 'Clarendon,' wrote Greville, 'told me he expected the Encumbered Estates Act would prove the regeneration of Ireland.'

[50] That great lawyer, Lord St. Leonards, protested. He had been Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

[51] For the state of Ireland during the Famine and the years that followed, see 'The Irish Crisis,' by Sir Charles Trevelyan, reprinted from the _Edinburgh Review_; and the 'Letters' of Mr. Campbell Foster, the Commissioner of the _Times_. Valuable information will also be found in the Greville 'Memoirs,' vols. v., vi. I may refer to my 'Ireland, 1798-1898,' chs. v. and part of vi.

[52] For an account of these machinations of party, see Greville, 'Memoirs,' vol. vii. p. 33.

[53] I heard several of these most injudicious and ill-informed expressions of a false opinion.

[54] For the state of Ireland from the end of the Famine to 1868, reference may be made to 'Two Centuries of Irish History,' edited by Mr. Bryce; to the Greville 'Memoirs,' vols. vii. and viii.; to Greville's 'Policy of England towards Ireland;' to the 'Recollections and Suggestions of Earl Russell;' to parts of the 'Life of Lord Palmerston;' to 'Journals, Conversations, and Essays relating to Ireland,' by Nassau Senior; to the 'Young Ireland,' the 'Four Years of Irish History,' and 'The League of the North and South,' by Sir C. G. Duffy; to the 'New Ireland' of Mr. A. M. Sullivan; and to the 'Parnell Movement' of Mr. T. P. O'Connor. Valuable information as to this period will also be found in Mr. Barry O'Brien's works, 'Fifty Years of Concessions to Ireland' and 'Irish Wrongs and English Remedies;' and there are many other authorities. This period is dealt with in my 'Ireland, 1798-1898.' ch. vi.

[55] From the mass of literature on this subject reference may especially be made to 'The Irish Land,' by the late Sir George Campbell; Judge Longfield's essay in 'Systems of Land Tenure;' the 'Irish Land and the Irish People,' by Butt; and the 'Ireland, Industrial, Political, and Social,' of the late Mr. J. N. Murphy. As Special Commissioner of the _Times_, I went into the Irish land question at length on the spot; and it would be affectation to deny that my letters, since republished, powerfully contributed to the legislation which ere long followed. See, for further information, 'The Irish Land Question' of John Stuart Mill; 'Emigration and the Tenure of Irish Land,' by Lord Dufferin; 'The New Ireland' of the late Mr. A. M. Sullivan; parts of Mr. Barry O'Brien's 'Fifty Years of Concessions to Ireland'; 'Ireland in 1868,' by the late Mr. G. Fitzgibbon, a Master of the Court of Chancery in Ireland; and Mr. Lecky's 'Democracy and Liberty,' vol. i. ch. ii.